


Power Out

by Control_Room, Random_ag



Series: Tortured Tales [27]
Category: Bendy and the Ink Machine
Genre: A bit of an argument, Awkwardness, Cute, Deadline, Fear of Thunder and Lightning, Johan Deserves All Hugs, Kissing, M/M, Mention of Estrangement from Family, Power Outage, Sweet, fear of storm, scared character, soft, tired
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-23
Updated: 2020-11-23
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:47:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27684455
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Control_Room/pseuds/Control_Room, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Random_ag/pseuds/Random_ag
Summary: Late one night, when only Henry and Joey are working, there's a power out at the studio.
Relationships: Joey Drew/Henry Stein
Series: Tortured Tales [27]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2023520
Comments: 4
Kudos: 12





	Power Out

Tonight was… a night. A late night. Very, very late. But they had to work still, because the deadline was creeping up on them like a many legged mantis. One deadline that Henry constantly reminded him of, because guess who had been the one to set it? Joey. Of course, how could Joey have known that there would be so many pipes bursting? Or that their flute player would quit out of the blue and he would have to replace them until they could get a new worker? And that the storm outside would keep people from being able to come in?

Joey rubbed at his eye to keep himself sharp and focused again on the frame of Boris playing the clarinet that he had been stuck working on for what had felt like hours, the thunder a soothing rumble around them. He flipped the paper back and forth between his fingers to make sure he would get the movement right.

He heard a similar sound close to himself. He did not turn: he knew Henry was wasting away on his own desk, animating like a madman so that their studios could work properly, giving at least the appearance of being more of a well oiled machine instead of a crazed rusted engine about to collapse into a pile of red dust.

He glanced at the man, trying to figure out what to say to him. ‘Take a break’? ‘You’re doing great’? ‘Thank you’? ‘I love you’? He settled on silence for a few more moments.

“How f-far are you good?” he asked, his words tumbling out as a jumble, nearly blotted out by thunder, and he wished it had been to prevent his same. Henry turned to him slowly with a raised eyebrow, and Joey felt his mouth turn into a line and his cheeks heat, glad the lights were dim and so that his blushing cheeks were virtually invisible. 

“All night long, I imagine.” Henry replied in the driest and bluntest of manners. “That’s what is looking like, at this rate. I’ve got maybe ten seconds done. So hurry up so we can each get some shuteye.”

Johan nodded slightly and turned back to his papers, his face aflame. He found himself staring at the relatively exact same drawing he was working on earlier. Just a few frames different. He sighed. He could feel his concentration slip into his subconscious like part of the oceanic crust getting subdued into the mantle of molten lava beneath it, and he bit his lip to remain awake, sharper yet sharper. He jumped in his seat as a particularly close thunder hit the side of the studios and his vision flickered.

It flickered again, and then it was pure black.

Joey blinked.

He was conscious.

The light had gone out.

He let his head fall on the paper with a groan. Of all the days for this to be happening, it just had to pick this night.

There was a long exhale.

“Power out?” Henry asked, his voice straining. Joey gulped, and squeaked, “It appears so.”

He heard the paler man stand up from his station, his chair’s legs screeching against the floor in frustration and making him flinch.

“Your damn powerlines cut out on us?”

“ _ My _ powerlines?” Joey looked out the window, sure enough, all the lights on the street were out. “Henry, it looks l-like it’s the whole city. Everybody’s out of luck tonight.”

“Maybe so, but not everybody has to get a whole ass cartoon done at lightning speed before they go, go fucking bankrupt!” Henry snapped, scaring Joey far more than the lightning outside. “Seriously, did you have to put the deadline so close? You know this stuff takes a lot of time! I’ve barely had time to study for my exams!”

“I couldn’t have predicted all the t-trouble we would be having--”

“Predict this, you damn asshole!” Henry shouted, slamming a fist down on Joey’s table, scarred hands leaping. Broad gold fingers wrapped around Johan’s chin and pulled him forwards to be met with a fistful of-

Kiss.

A… a  _ mouthful  _ of kissing, his mouth already open from shock, Henry a little off from the lack of light enabling perfect aim, but quickly correcting his mistake.

It disoriented him all the more when Henry pulled away to continue ranting, wiping his lower lip with the back of his hand, the lightning reflecting the speck of saliva. It reminded Joey that his mouth was still open, and he closed it, the taste of coffee that was not his own on his tongue.

“Linda’s been with my parents and I miss her, it’s hard enough for her to not have her mother anymore, so  _ I  _ should be there for her!” Henry ran a hand through his hair. “You’ve been great, sure, standing in as a parent, but  _ you’re pressing our time _ ! We’re going to kill ourselves working like asses!”

“I- I- I-” Joey stuttered, trying to wrap his head around all that was going on. Lightning flashed again and he saw Henry scrubbing at his eyes. Joey’s heart twitched and he rose, his hands gently coming to hold onto his face. “Henry, come up to m-my apartment. Let’s get some rest. The toons can wait.”

“But they can’t!” Henry protested angrily, but then his hands pressed onto Joey’s. “They can’t….”

“Henry, it's up to us,” Joey reminded him. “Let’s go to bed. We can’t w-work in the dark anyways.”

“Fine.” Henry grumbled, then smirked. “But I top.”

“We’re not going to b-bed like that,” Johan managed to say, and Henry skipped up some stairs to be at his level. Lightning flashed again and Joey caught a flash of blue and green eyes before it went dark again and he was pulled to the other’s mouth again. Henry rumbled; “Are you sure you don’t want to?”

“No, no, we shouldn’t,” Joey weakly managed to deny, trying his best to think of anything other than Henry and how much he loved the man-- and this was not him. “You’re not actin’ like yourself, Ray.”

“Maybe it’s the sleeplessness,” Henry yawned, and unlocked Joey’s apartment, leading the owner into his own room. “I’m sleeping in my shorts, no way you’ve got anything my size.”

“No, I don’t,” Joey blushed, wishing that he did-- if only it would mean Henry would be with him only a few nights. Hands gently ran across his body, and he found himself drawn to the bed, then he was pulled upon it. Henry tucked him to his chest, kissing his shoulder and neck, and his lips once more. Joey thought he was in heaven with each little kiss. “Henry, I’m not your, uh, girlfriend--”

“I get cuddly when I’m tired,” Henry murmured, pulling him closer. “Ah, you’re still in your clothes.” 

Joey was about to rise when hands pulled him back down, and he flushed when Henry carefully stripped him of his gear, amused by the amount of clothes underneath. He stopped when Joey pushed his hands away from his tank top and shorts. 

“Keeping those on, okay,” Henry smiled. Joey nodded. “Uh, sorry for rushing-- you’re okay with this whole thing, right?”

“Um, y-yeah, yeah,” Joey exhaled. “I am….”

“Okay, I’ll see you in the morning.”

“G-good night.”

***

Thunder shook them both awake. Well, it woke Joey, who accidentally woke Henry by clinging to him in his fear. Henry slowly woke up as Joey stared at him while holding his breath, remembering the night before. A smile was not what he was expecting to get from the man.

“Hey babe.”

Freezeframe. Joey’s eyes went wider, and his hand tried to turn on the light-- only to find the power was still out.

“What time’s it, sweetheart?”

“I- I don’t know,” he, nearly overwhelmed by fluster, choked out. A hand ran through his hair, and his head was tucked to a chest, the heartbeat lulling him. 

“Did the storm scare you?”

“Yes,” Joey admitted. He felt like he could say anything to Henry. “Loud things… they’ve always bothered m-me. Especially--”

A flash illuminated the room, shortly followed by a clap of thunder, leaving Joey’s arms around Henry’s shoulder like he was the only solid thing in an earthquake.

“Hey, hey, honey, I’m here,” Henry assured him. “No need to worry, doll.”

“W-why do you keep… calling me pet names…?” Joey whispered, almost afraid. Henry went quiet, his hand still running through Joey’s hair. 

“It's easier to pretend that we’ve always been like this than remembering all the time I’ve wasted on being scared of it,” he finally answered. Joey blinked, and rose himself to look at Henry. “After I kissed you, last night-- I wasn’t crying because of Linda. I was crying because of you.”

“Oh, Henry, I…” Johan looked away. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be, unless you don’t want to date me,” Henry said. Joey’s eyes returned to his.

“I… Henry, I love you,” Joey responded. Lightning flashed, and for once, Joey did not fear the thunder.

***

The storm went on for the rest of the night, and continued into the next day. At some points, the power managed to toot out an ounce of strength, letting them listen to messages of workers calling in that they would not be able to come to work. That was just fine with Joey and Henry. Henry was able to get a call to Linda, and both he and Joey were glad to hear she was alright and having fun in Canada. Henry’s parents worried about the storm, but he easily dispelled their anxiety, smiling at Joey and running his thumb along his opisthenar, remarking to them that he was in good hands. They returned to work, and Henry was, for once, glad that Joey was left handed-- it allowed them to hold hands even as they animated. Each time the lights flickered, they would challenge each other to see who could keep away the longest, though neither could tell who kissed whom first. 

Still, Henry’s eyes flicked to the phone every now and then, and back to Johan. Joey eventually noticed his gazes, and smiled at him quizzically. Henry shook his head nonchalantly, and remarked, “I’m just thinking about something.”

“What’s got your head all a, a tizzy?” Joey asked, tilting his head. Henry shrugged. “C’mon, Henry, you can a-ask me anything you want to.”

“I mean, well,” Henry scratched his stubble, attempting to figure out how to phase his question without seeming invasive or crass. “Don’t you have any family to call? To let them know you’re alright?”

Family?

Oh yeah.

Family.

That thing.

People have a tendency to have those.

Right.

That.

Johan had one.

Definitely.

Probably.

Yes?

Yes.

He did.

Family.

Huh.

He stared into Ray's drop dead gorgeous eyes for five totally not mind bogglingly awkward minutes while busily most definitely not dissociating.

The doctor whistled and he snapped out of it: “Hm?”

“Your family.” Henry repeated, “Don't you want to call them to tell them you're okay?”

The five minutes of perfect silence nearly repeated, but Henry decided to cut it short after a few seconds, smiling with his brows drawn.

“Joey?”

“Hm? Wh-”

“You know what, nevermind--”

“Oh, oh, family. Right. Right, uh. They’re in a, uh, different time zone,” Joey spectacularly half assed at the third try, a total truth. With a hand creeping to his shoulder that he did not notice, he repeated, “Time zones. Yep, it's that. They’re west.”

Henry did not like the almost sad look in his eye.

“Joey, like you said I could ask you anything….”

“Anything at all.”

“Are you estranged? From your family?”

“I’ve been…” Joey sighed, shoulders slumping, and his hand slid down from his shoulder to his pin. “Disinherited.”

Henry took in his appearance, noting where his hand lay, and he blinked, once, twice, and then realized what the man meant. His eyes widened and he took Joey’s hand again. 

“Joey…” he began slowly. Joey looked up at him after a moment. “Um, if you want to be part of, well,  _ my  _ family… I think I’d like that.”

Johan’s vision seemed to shift, so he blinked to clear it. The blur returned quickly, and for a brief moment, he thought the storm outside invaded his eyes.

“Oh, oh, Joey, don’t cry!” Henry exclaimed, shooting up and extending a hand to stand to grab a mass of tissues. He laughed under duress, wiping those little tears that escaped despite Joey’s best efforts. The poor man could not speak, and could hardly hope to form words. Henry tried to lighten the situation with talking himself. “These past few days must have been one hell of a shitstorm for you, haven’t they? You confess to estrangement, you sleep in the same bed as your business partner, your business partner ups and kisses you-- sorry about that, again--”

“Don’t be sorry,” the voice trembled out of Johan's mouth, “Oh, Henry, Henry, d-don't be sorry, it might have been the best thing that’s e-ever happened to me.”

It was Henry’s turn to be quiet. 

“I was thinking maybe we’d be, uh, engaging in relational affairs without, you know, being in a relationship,” Henry spoke, blushing. He saw understanding and acceptance flash in Joey’s eyes. “But! I… I realized that, maybe… you’d want last night to have changed us?”

“Changed us… how?” Joey asked, tilting his head.

“Do you…  _ want _ to be my boyfriend?” Henry asked, trying his absolute hardest not to burst into grinning, especially when wonderment grew across Joey’s face, illuminated like a star by a bolt of lightning. “Because… I think I’d like that.”

“Henry, I’d  _ love _ that,” Joey excitedly replied, eyes brightening beautifully. How did Henry ever miss that gorgeous glow? It was like lightning straight to his heart, freezing it and making it thrum back to life with pounds like thunder. His own lips twitched into a smile, mirroring Joey’s cautious grin. “As- as long as  _ you’re _ happy, I’m happy, a-and… and if you think you could be happy with m-me, I’ll to my best to make sure you’d be the happiest man in the world, because just y-you being with me… well, that would make me the happiest man to ever be.”

“Consider me the happiest man in the world,” Henry told him, letting his smile burst. Joey’s own smile grew into something bigger and more beautiful. “How about a first kiss as boyfriends?”

“Oh my goodness, you’re going to k-kill me through fluster,” Joey covered his face, squirming, smiling, and in wonder. Henry teased, cupping Joey’s cheeks and moving to nuzzle his nose, “Am I? Am I, Joey? Or are you going to give me a kiss?”

A squeak and a peck to his lips was all Joey managed, immediately hiding behind his hands again. Henry laughed, kissing everywhere he could.

“They say you have to wait for storms to pass for the rainbow,” Henry remarked, “But I think I’ve found mine.”

Joey felt as special as a rain drawn rose blossom.


End file.
